Paper ballots getting the vote

Paper ballots will be used to collect votes in many elections this fall. There will be a drop in the use of electronic ballot equipment because of security problems, and more states are using paper ballots that are optically scanned because they are easy to use, ease to scan, and provide an auditable paper trail. The biggest shortcoming of the electronic equipment is the lack of a paper trail that can be used to verify results. Unfortunately, this shortcoming was widely noted in this column and in many other sources early in the rush to avoid any more hanging chad incidents.